Today is kind of all over the place for me… no real ability to concentrate; but hey, we all have those days, right? I have thought about changing my template, but I can’t seem to find anything that I am super happy with. Any suggestions? Anything you like? Don’t like? Anything you just neeeeed? Well, say it here, and I will take it into consideration.
I have kind of been giving some thought to drinking lately; no, not just the usual, “hey, I think I want to drink” stuff, but more about what the act signifies for me and other people around me. I in no way consider myself an alcoholic; mainly because I know that I don’t need to drink to have a good time, and basically because I don’t feel the need to drink every day. I don’t crave alcohol, and I actually know when to stop drinking, as to prevent myself from getting wasted or getting sick. (I just wanted to go ahead and put that out there; before I go any further…)
With that being said, the reason I was thinking about this, is because sometimes I feel like people judge me for enjoying drinking. No, that doesn’t mean that people point and stare, or whatnot, but I do feel like sometimes, some people look at me with a, “I can’t believe you want to drink” or “how can you still be drinking” thought in the backs of their minds.
I don’t let it “bring me down” so to speak and it has never really affected my drinking habits (that’s right, I’m a trooper!); but it does make me wonder: are people really looking at me, and thinking that I drink too much? Are people thinking that I enjoy drinking too much, and therefore, they are concluding to themselves that I may actually be an alcoholic? Do people see me as someone who just loves to drink so much that it is all I think about (or somewhat close to that extreme)? What do those people define as excess drinking, or drinking too much; and why?
I think about this, I guess, because I don’t want to be judged for something that I do that I like. I also don’t want to be judged for doing something that I am perfectly capable of controlling, and, at least up until this point, almost always have (save those few nights in college where you wake up on the toilet type thing). I guess I just wonder why drinking is something that is a necessity in college, but then when you find yourself in “real life”, it seems there are more eyes on you, watching to see what you are doing. It is almost like drinking has become something deviant, or somehow wrong. And since it has become that way, I feel more and more judged by it. I guess I am writing this post, because I want to see if any of you out there in the blogosphere experience the same looks or feelings coming from those that are around you? If drinking is something that you enjoy, and like all good things, you do it in moderation (or at least your definition of moderation); it is necessarily a bad thing? If no one is effected by it, but you (your liver, your hangover, your wallet), and there are no evident negative side effects (i.e. violence, abuse, spiraling out of control, DUI’s, etc), what is the big deal with enjoying a few beers every now and then? What do you think?
I’m going to have a few beers while you think about it…
Also, for those of you that don’t drink, or don’t really care for drinking, let me hear from you as well… it is nice to get different perspectives!
Sing it!
The Postal Service - This Place is a Prison
Duane, don’t change your template. I like this one better than most I’ve seen. I also think your caption’s cute.
You know my opinion on drinking
But I recently read something interesting in one of my Spain books: “they view drink like food - it’s to be savored and treasured, enjoyed and feasted upon.”
I thought that summed it up perfectly.
i get The Look every time i come home from work and pour myself a drink. and to get The Look from another drinker really takes the wind out of your sails.
*as Jamming by Bob Marley comes on the iTunes*
Bro you just got to do what makes you happy so long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. Amongst my small circle of friends I am usually the only what that drinks (alot). Often at a dinner with friends I order adult drinks because I like them better than Coke products and Sweet Tea. Cause lets face it…not every restaurant below the Mason-Dixon line knows how to make Sweet Tea. If I didn’t drink something alcoholic it would just be plain water. There is nothing wrong with you and you really shouldn’t worry about what other people think about it.
If I have Italian…I gotta have some wine. If I have pizza….I gotta have a beer. So on and so forth. I usualy never drink to excess anymore. I mean at the last bloggers meetup it was 4 Mai Tai’s, 3 Miller Lites, and an Irish Car Bomb; and I was still functional to drive home.
So here is a Colt 40oz to Duane and his perfectly normal drinking habits!
I think you’re a little overly paranoid man. Chill out. I’ve never noticed people looking, staring, or gawking at me for drinking… I mean, I catch people doing all of the above everyday but I contribute that to how freakishly drop-dead sexy I am because they do it whether I have beer in hand or not. Anyways, I don’t feel guilty about drinking because it’s something I enjoy and if someone wants to judge me for it, fuck’em. I don’t give two shits about them or what they think of me. Everyone in my professional life enjoys knocking back a few brews after work and I’ve yet to be at a gathering of coworkers where drinking was considered taboo. Maybe it’s just a difference in the type of people that are in our varying industries. Don’t know… don’t care. I do know that I’m meeting a friend for happy hour after work and damnit if 5 o’clock can’t get here soon enough! Bottoms up ladies!
There is definitely a stigma attached to drinking. But I think people are getting very confusing and contradictory messages. On one hand you have all the DUI commercials, the Lifetime movies and the horrible news stories where a drunk driver kills a family of five. But then you have stuff like The Real World, sporting events sponsored by beer companies and bars promoting drink specials and happy hours.
Personally I’m at a point where drinking isn’t fun for me. I go to bars to hang out with my friends but even that is wearing thin. I find myself drinking less and less when I’m out with them. But this is a choice I’ve made, it has nothing to do with their drinking. I’ve just found that I can be social without drinking the way I used to.
Here’s something weird, too: I never noticed such a stigma until I moved to Atlanta. Discuss…
if you’re thinking of changing your template, try eris design. it’s free and it does most of the leg work for you.
having said that, i dig your template. very simple.
Okay here’s my rule for drinking:
TARA REID = DRUNK
If you find yourself sporting any of her drunk looks, then Houston we have a problem…
Hmm… Maybe it’s related to what you drink, rather than the frequency or volume.
For example, around here, drinking PBR will earn you lots of stares. But if you started mainlining Grey Goose, I bet hardly anyone would notice…
As long as you aren’t tripping and falling on people or somehow being a nuisance because of it, this is your business. In moderation (as you said) there is nothing wrong with drinking. I know when to stop, and never get to the point where things get ugly..
Enjoy the Beer man
(I prefer Vodka..)
I am an alcoholic=having three DUI’s and a couple of real asshole situations where I hurt a person who loved me…..law and love, when the drink affects those two things you gotta check up…if you are self consious about it then test yourself with going thirty days dry…..trust the drink after thirty is the best eric
Tara Reid = Drunk… LOL! That is something to aspire too! Perhaps I will have a “nipple slip” at some point in my future! Watch out!
I felt when I drank a lot after college I was criticized and now that I’m more settled down and rare drink I get criticized for that…trust me you can’t win.
The “hey you drunk weirdo” phenomenon is purely Southern. It’s something like, I don’t know — you drank in college, now as an adult you’re supposed to just “drink responsibly” which means “not much.” I don’t buy alcohol out because it’s quite expensive, and I’m quite cheap, but I love wine and we keep a well-stocked liquor cabinet (by our standards, anyway). It’s no big deal; just tell anyone who gives you any lip that you’re a born-again Bacchanalian.
I see your point. But I also feel like there is a stigma (though I think that’s too strong of a word in both cases) attached to not drinking. This is coming from someone who, until a little over a year ago, could count on two hands the number of times she’d had an alcoholic beverage in her entire life. I often felt (and still often feel, since it’s not like I’m a lush now, either) like drinking created a barrier. E.g., I want to hang out with friends but maybe I don’t feel like sitting in some crowded, loud-ass bar where we can’t even talk and where some random drunk dude might puke in my lap. -Oh wait, that was college. Moving on…
In general, when I’m out somewhere with friends/acquaintances/whoever and everyone is drinking, sometimes I drink and sometimes I just have a Sprite or something. I think, BFD. Well, apparently it is a big fucking deal to some people, because when they notice I’m not drinking they get all weird about it and start trying to make me drink. I think it’s often a reflection of their own self-consciousness about drinking, or like they think I’m “judging” them or whatever. No, maybe I just don’t like the taste of vodka, mkay? Kind of like how I don’t like green olives on my salad, so I’m not going to eat them.
I grew up with an alcoholic father, so on the one hand you could say that fucked up my perspective on drinking, but on the other you could say it gave me an up-close-and-personal real-life view of how alcohol can ruin a family. YES, I know not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, so nobody start with that shit. Anyway, one thing is certain, I never had a model of responsible, moderate drinking. It was all or nothing.
Uhhh… I’ve been meaning to write this comment for two days, but have been too busy, and now that I’ve actually written it, I realize it doesn’t sound nearly as good as I’d wanted it to. It’s late and I’ve been up since 6:30 (yes, on a Saturday), so there’s my excuse. I think discussing it in person, I could do much better.
Must sleep now.
P.S. I’m not judging you, Duane!
“Ayn you harm none, do as you will.”